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Marlowe is a 2022 neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Neil Jordan, who co-wrote the screenplay with William Monahan. Based on the 2014 novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville, writing under the pen name Benjamin Black, the film stars Liam Neeson as private detective Philip Marlowe, a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, and features Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alan Cumming, Francois Arnaud, Ian Hart, Danny Huston, Daniela Melchior, and Colm Meaney.
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00:00Today, we're diving into the shadowy, rain-slicked world of neo-noir with the 2022 film, Marlowe.
00:07This movie is a big deal for fans of classic detective fiction because it brings back one
00:11of the most iconic literary figures of all time, Philip Marlowe.
00:16Created by the legendary Raymond Chandler, this private eye is the very definition of
00:20a weary, cynical, yet moral man navigating the corrupt underbelly of 1930s and 40s Los
00:26Angeles.
00:28This specific film, directed by the acclaimed Neil Jordan, and co-written with William Monaghan,
00:33isn't based on one of Chandler's original works, though.
00:36Instead, it takes its inspiration from the 2014 novel The Black-Eyed Blonde, penned by
00:42John Bonville under the pseudonym Benjamin Black.
00:45The film boasts an impressive, star-studded cast led by the ever-reliable Liam Neeson stepping
00:50into the trenchcoat of the titular detective.
00:53He's joined by screen veterans like Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Danny Houston, and a host
00:59of other talented performers including Adewale Akanue Agbaje, Alan Cumming, and Daniela
01:04Melchir.
01:05Marlowe premiered at the 70th San Sebastian International Film Festival and hit theaters
01:10in early 2023.
01:12However, despite the pedigree of the source material, the director, and the cast, the film
01:17was largely met with negative reviews from critics.
01:21The big question is, does this new take on a classic character succeed, or does it simply
01:25get lost in the shadows of its predecessors?
01:29Let's break down this complex, messy, and ultimately unsatisfying mystery.
01:34The year is 1939, and the setting is Los Angeles, a city of bright sunshine and dark secrets, where
01:40Hollywood glamour rubs shoulders with true depravity.
01:44We are quickly introduced to Philip Marlowe, Liam Neeson, a private detective who, even
01:48in his later years, maintains the required mix of world-weariness and stubborn integrity.
01:54He's struggling to make ends meet, and as is tradition in noir, a glamorous, dangerous
01:59woman walks into his office and changes everything.
02:02This woman is Claire Cavendish, Diane Kruger, a wealthy heiress with a mysterious aura.
02:08She hires Marlowe to find her missing lover, a man named Nico Peterson.
02:13Peterson is no ordinary man.
02:15He works as a prop master at the prestigious Pacific Film Studios.
02:19This instantly pulls the investigation into the seductive, yet deceitful, world of classic
02:24Hollywood.
02:26Marlowe begins his inquiries, following the scant clues.
02:29His search quickly leads him to the exclusive Corbata Club.
02:32Outside this establishment, he discovers a grim truth.
02:35Nico Peterson was killed, having been run over by a car.
02:39The case seems to be closed almost as soon as it opens.
02:42The twists begin.
02:44The dead man who isn't quite dead.
02:46Marlowe, ever the professional, reports back to his client, Cavendish, with the sad news of
02:51Peterson's death.
02:53While there, he also crosses paths with Joseph O'Reilly, the powerful owner of Pacific Film
02:58Studios.
02:59This meeting establishes O'Reilly as a figure of significant influence, the type of man who
03:04sits at the top of the city's power structure.
03:07What happens next is the first major twist that plunges the case into genuine Marlowe territory,
03:12a tangled web of lies.
03:14Cavendish insists that the man Marlowe found dead cannot be her lover, claiming she recently
03:19saw Peterson driving right past her, in Tijuana, of all places.
03:24Marlowe is immediately frustrated by his client's secrecy and obvious deception.
03:29He knows she's not telling him the full story.
03:31As he leaves, he encounters another key figure, Cavendish's mother, the formidable former film
03:36star Dorothy Quincannon, Jessica Lange.
03:40This brief encounter hints at a deeper, dysfunctional family dynamic.
03:44Marlowe, now dealing with a man who may be alive, pursues the victim's identity.
03:50He visits the grave that supposedly holds Peterson's body and sees a grieving woman there,
03:54but she quickly runs away.
03:56He tries to get his friend, homicide detective Joe Green, to look into the identity of the
04:01person killed outside the Corbata club.
04:03Green, however, declines to investigate further, explaining that the club's owner, Floyd Hanson,
04:09already positively identified the victim as Peterson.
04:13This lack of official interest in the truth immediately signals that corruption is at play.
04:18A tangle of deception, clubs, sisters, and a second ambush.
04:23Marlowe decides to pursue the Corbata club owner himself.
04:26He meets Floyd Hanson at the club, and the two engage in a classic noir standoff, a conversation
04:31where they both try to extract information without revealing anything of substance about themselves.
04:37As Marlowe leaves the club, he spots the woman from the grave, Peterson's sister, Lynn.
04:43Recognizing her as a potential lead, he discreetly manages to arrange a meeting with her later
04:47that night at the Cabana club.
04:49Their conversation is clearly observed by Hanson, confirming the club's deep involvement
04:54in the mystery.
04:55When Marlowe arrives at the Cabana club for the scheduled meeting, he's ambushed by two
04:59unknown men.
05:01Marlowe, despite his age, proves he hasn't lost his edge and manages to overpower them.
05:07This sequence successfully brings the action element into the otherwise slow-burn investigation.
05:12In a strange turn of events, Quinn Cannon, the mother, tries to hire Marlowe herself to
05:16find Peterson.
05:18She makes a significant confession, the strain in her relationship with her daughter, Claire,
05:23stems from years of pretense.
05:25Following the advice of her former lover, O'Reilly, the studio owner, she had always pretended
05:30that Claire was her niece, not her daughter, keeping their true relationship a secret.
05:36This revelation deepens the conspiracy, intertwining the personal lives of the rich and powerful
05:40with the criminal underworld.
05:42Quinn Cannon provides another crucial piece of information.
05:46Peterson was acting as a talent agent for an actress named Amanda Toxteth.
05:50Marlowe meets with Toxteth, who reveals that Peterson was a notorious serial womanizer
05:55and, more importantly, frequently smuggled cocaine from Tijuana.
05:59The missing man is clearly more than just a prop master.
06:03The drug lords and the kidnapping.
06:04With few solid leads, Marlowe resorts to classic detective work.
06:08He breaks into Peterson's house.
06:11Inside, he finds Lynn, the sister, who is clearly searching for something.
06:16But before they can exchange much information, they are ambushed again, this time by two Mexican
06:20men who are searching for a woman named, Serena.
06:24Marlowe is knocked unconscious, and Lynn is taken captive.
06:27When the private eye comes to, he's picked up by a powerful drug lord named Lou Hendricks,
06:32and his imposing henchman, Cedric.
06:35Hendricks reveals his stake in the matter.
06:37Peterson was his former drug courier and had stolen a large amount of cocaine.
06:42The entire case has pivoted from a missing person to a drug theft investigation.
06:45Marlowe, showing his compassionate side, immediately enlists the help of his police officer friend,
06:51Bernie Oles, to search for the kidnapped Lynn.
06:55Meanwhile, Claire Cavendish pays Marlowe a visit.
06:58In a classic noir move, she attempts to seduce him.
07:01Marlowe resists her advances, a testament to his moral code, but agrees to dance with her.
07:07He then covertly follows her to a rendezvous with O'Reilly.
07:10Marlowe runs into Quincannon again, who expresses her disgust and anger over her daughter's
07:14relationship with the much older and influential O'Reilly, making it clear that O'Reilly is
07:19a manipulative force in their lives.
07:22The dead sister and the showdown at the Corbata Club.
07:25The next day brings another tragedy.
07:27Bernie Oles takes Marlowe to a grim discovery, Lynn's body.
07:31She was tortured, raped, and murdered.
07:34This brutal act adds a raw, emotional layer to the case and fuels Marlowe's desire for
07:39retribution.
07:40Oles, equally disgusted, traces the Mexican assailants back to the Corbata Club and gives
07:45Marlowe his unofficial support to avenge Lynn's death, confirming the club's role as the nexus
07:50of the city's criminal activities.
07:53Marlowe returns to the club, seeking a confrontation with Floyd Hanson.
07:57Hanson offers Marlowe a drink, a classic power move.
08:01Marlowe, ever suspicious, realizes the drink may be poisoned.
08:05He cleverly disposes of it and feigns death.
08:08Hanson, believing the detective is dead, has his body taken to a hidden area within the
08:12club.
08:13This area turns out to be a macabre scene of the ongoing criminal plot, the Mexican assailants
08:18have been killed, Hendricks is being tortured, and Cedric has been restrained.
08:23Under extreme duress, Hendricks finally reveals the secret behind the missing drugs and the
08:28name, Serena.
08:30Serena is not a woman, but a mermaid statue that Peterson had hidden in a nearby fish tank.
08:36The statue contains the stolen cocaine.
08:38Marlowe seizes the opportunity, he frees Cedric, and the two of them engage in a violent fight
08:43against Hanson and his men, ultimately killing them all.
08:47In the chaos, the mermaid statue is accidentally shattered, and the drugs are destroyed.
08:52Hendricks, furious over the loss of the massive cocaine shipment, threatens Cedric with lifelong
08:57debt to repay the value of the drugs.
08:59Cedric, knowing his life is over either way, kills Hendricks and aligns himself with Marlowe,
09:05gaining an unlikely ally.
09:07The final betrayal and the new beginning.
09:09Marlowe returns to his office only to find Nico Peterson waiting for him.
09:14The man is, indeed, alive.
09:16Peterson, with chilling indifference, admits to feeling no guilt over his sister Lynn's
09:21death.
09:22He confesses that the body found outside the club was that of a musician who simply resembled
09:26him.
09:27Peterson asks Marlowe to arrange a final meeting with Claire Cavendish at the studio prop house.
09:32The final confrontation takes place at the prop house.
09:36Peterson meets Cavendish and reveals his intent to sell records of every drug deal made through
09:40the studio to the highest bidder.
09:42This evidence would completely destroy O'Reilly's reputation and empire.
09:47Marlowe arrives just as Cavendish commits the ultimate betrayal, she sets Peterson and the
09:51evidence on fire, ensuring his permanent demise and the destruction of the evidence.
09:56The pieces finally fall into place for Marlowe.
09:59He deduces that Cavendish didn't hire him to find her lover.
10:02She hired him to ensure he was dead.
10:05By eliminating the evidence and Peterson himself, O'Reilly would be forever indebted to her, securing
10:10her power within the studio's structure.
10:13Marlowe chooses not to turn her in, realizing the depth of the corruption and the futility
10:18of getting justice through official channels in this city.
10:21He simply takes her gun and leaves.
10:23Sometime later, the dust has settled.
10:26Claire Cavendish has become the vice-president of the studio, a testament to her ruthless
10:30ambition, and is attempting to reconcile with her mother, Quinn Cannon, who has returned
10:35to acting.
10:36Cavendish offers Marlowe a job as the head of security at the studio, a comfortable life
10:40she tried to buy him.
10:43Marlowe declines, choosing his independent path, but recommends his new ally, Cedric,
10:48for the role.
10:49He later gives the gun he took from Cavendish to Cedric for his new duties, solidifying their
10:53partnership.
10:55Overall critique, a fumbled masterpiece.
10:58Marlowe attempts to resurrect a legend, but ultimately falls short of the brilliance of
11:02Chandler's work or the power of classic neo-noir films.
11:06Liam Neeson is a decent choice for an older, slower Marlowe, yet he often feels miscast,
11:12lacking the sharp wit and quiet despair that defined the character.
11:16The dialogue is sometimes too stilted, failing to deliver the memorable, cynical poetry of
11:21the genre.
11:23The film's main weakness is its overly convoluted plot.
11:26While intricate plotting is a hallmark of noir, Marlowe piles on twists, the dead man
11:31who isn't dead, the daughter who is a niece, the stolen drugs, the mermaid statue, and the
11:36final double cross, to the point where the audience can easily become lost and disengaged.
11:42The film sacrifices emotional resonance for plot complexity.
11:46In the end, Marlowe feels like a beautifully shot, well-costumed, but ultimately hollow tribute
11:51to a genre it doesn't fully understand.
11:54It has all the elements, the femme fatale, the weary detective, the corrupt city, but
11:59lacks the soul and clarity that make a mystery truly compelling.
12:03It's a film that promises a hard-boiled classic but delivers a confusing scramble.
Recommended
10:55
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